


Epistolography; or, the Art of Writing Letters

by SugarsweetRomantic



Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: F/F, Letters, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarsweetRomantic/pseuds/SugarsweetRomantic
Summary: Bridget needs advice, so she writes letters to an old friend.





	1. Dear Angela

Dr A. Ziegler   
Watchpoint Room 2.301   
Willis’s Rd   
Gibraltar GX11 1AA   
Gibraltar   
  
_ Dear Angela, _

_ How have you been? I know your cell reception at the base is terrible, so I figured I’d send you a letter instead of calling you. I hope your workload hasn’t been too heavy, but I imagine that as a field medic, it never is. _

_ I am writing to you because I could use your advice, as one (medical) professional to another. _

_ Recently, I’ve accepted a new position as an in-house forensic psychologist at a prison - a women’s prison, to be more precise. It gives me an opportunity to help women who have been marked as ‘broken’ or ‘unfit’ by society, and to give them some tools to come to terms with what they’ve done as well as prepare for parole or release. So far, it’s been wonderful. I didn’t mind working at men’s prisons in the past, but I feel like I can connect with women much easier. And though that may sound like something good, it’s also where my struggles lie. _

_ There’s an inmate, whom I, for now, will refer to as Sam for confidentiality’s sake. She has been incarcerated for a couple of years now, and she’s got a chance at getting parole soon. To help her prepare for her parole hearing, I am seeing her once a week in my office. She used to be Top Dog - the one in charge, at the top of the prison hierarchy - but not anymore, so as you may be able to imagine, she’s under quite a bit of mental duress due to that. Her way of coping with the situation is acting out. She completely broke down the facility’s library-slash-educational-centre when I had just met her, and she got slotted for it. I convinced the governor - a tall, imposing woman by the name of Joan Ferguson - to speak with her when she was finally let out of solitary confinement, and she immediately began making comments of a sexual nature, and basically, she’s been unashamedly trying to flirt with me ever since. _

_ Now, Angela, you know me. I’ve always been able to keep my private life and my professional one strictly separate. For God’s sake, Sam’s not even my type! You’ve met all of my past partners, and Lord knows they were miles away from being a tattoo-covered, foul-mouthed brunette with a troubled past. And trust me when I say that I’ve tried to analyse whether this is only some misplaced form of physical attraction or maybe perhaps some sort of saviour complex, but this feels like more. And I don’t know what to do. For the first time in my life as a psychologist, I’m considering crossing that very important line.  _

_ It scares me. _

_ Please don’t worry about me though, as I am sure you have enough issues demanding your attention right now. My disastrous love life and I can wait. _

_ Take care, _ _  
_ _ Bridget _


	2. Dear Bridget

Wentworth Correctional Centre   
z.H. Frau B.E. Westfall   
1 Dean St   
Moonee Ponds VIC 3039   
Australia

_ Dear Bridget, _

_ What a lovely surprise to receive a letter from you - though I wish you were not feeling as conflicted. It has indeed been quite busy, but it is nothing I cannot handle. In the evenings the activity at the Watchpoint calms down, which allows me to have some time to do things other than work, such as write this reply to you.  _

_ In any other case, I would advise you to speak to someone more experienced in your line of work. I am a surgeon, not a psychologist. However, I understand that in this particular situation, that is not a viable option. I believe that you do not want my professional opinion at all. You know what my response, in that case, would be: create distance and refer her to another psychologist. _

_ But that is not why you wrote to me, is it? So, I am going to give you my advice as a human, my advice to you as your friend. _

_ It sounds as though this ‘Sam’ has managed to captivate both your body and soul. In a way, you’ve let your guard down and you have let her get under your skin. What matters, in this case, is, I believe: what makes Sam different from other attractive women you have treated? Why have you let this happen? You’re a smart woman, Bridget Westfall, and you are accurate in observing that this is not your typical behaviour, so there must be...something. _

_ What I believe you should do, is investigate your feelings for this woman, further than you have already done. How much of them is real, and what part is something else? And the parts that are not genuine romantic attraction, what are they instead? Are you lonely? Are you mistaking a different emotion for amorous ones?  _

_ And please, tell me more about her. _

_ Take care, dear Bridget, and take things slowly. There is no reason to rush things. _

_ With love, _

_ Angela _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that the addresses used are the Rock of Gibraltar, and the Melbourne office of Foxtel.


	3. Dear Angela

Dr. A. Ziegler   
Watchpoint Room 2.301   
Willis’s Rd   
Gibraltar GX11 1AA   
Gibraltar   
  
_ Dear Angela, _

_ You, as always, have read me like a book. How do you still manage to do that after all these years, on the other end of the world? In any case, you are correct. I know that I should stop seeing Sam, and hand her over to a colleague, but something inside of me is stopping me from doing that. I just can’t do it. I have to keep seeing her, even if just for my own peace of mind. _

_ Sam is...mesmerising. I could go on about the aesthetics - she’s tall, athletic, a brunette with piercing green eyes - but that’s not why I find myself so attracted to her. It’s her brain, her soul. She puts up a tough persona, but on the inside she’s as dangerous as a baby rabbit. Although maybe she’s more similar to a cat forced into a corner. I don’t believe she actually wants to hurt anyone, but she’s got no choice. Well, in her mind at least. I’d love to say that it’s not true, but I’ve written enough theses on prison hierarchy to know that there truly is no way to stay safe  _ _ and _ _ pacifist.  _

_ Anyway, I am rambling to a point where I’m getting off-topic. I feel that in Sam I have found an equal, mentally. It’s not that she’s as formally educated as I am - she finished her secondary education while incarcerated after all - but she’s smart, Angela; she’s so smart. She sees through most things, even through my own defences.  _

_ I did something unwise today. I wore my hair down. You know that I wear my hair up at work on purpose. It helps me keep my professional and private lives separate, but for some reason, I wore it down. I even curled it. Sam seemed to like it, and it made me feel happy, but this is so, so dangerous. I don’t understand myself right now, but I need to keep functioning professionally at the very least. I owe the women that much. _

_ I need to think more on why I am feeling the way that I am feeling, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging. I’m forcing myself to take a dance class tonight, to have to focus on something else for two hours. _

_ God, Angie, I don’t know what to do. _

_ Bridget _


End file.
